The present invention relates to a broadcast control center and more specifically for use in managing the sequencing of audiovisual broadcasts, particularly radio and television broadcasts, originating from a plurality of devices.
Such control centers include robots which select prerecorded cassettes, grasp them by a cassette manipulator and load them in a playback unit. These robots are programmed such that their operation is completely self-controlled. Moreover, control consoles are installed on each type of video or audio device, making it possible to control a selector grid or matrix for selecting the device output connected to one of the inputs of this grid and switching it to the output or to one output of this grid which is connected to the transmitter, and to the transmitting antenna in the case of radio broadcasting. Such consoles also comprise a variety of adjustment switches, to regulate the amplitude and audio frequency of the broadcast for example.
This type of configuration is inflexible. Indeed, the programming of the robots is fixed such that, if the normal broadcasting sequence is interrupted by an unexpected event, the sequencing must be overridden manually and a new sequence must be redefined for the robots.
Moreover, because the consoles for controlling the selector grids are installed near the pertinent devices, this requires a special trip by the technician in charge of managing the sequence. In practice, this requires these consoles be situated in relatively close proximity to one another, so that selections and adjustments can be made in time at the beginning of each broadcast.
In Rundfunktechnische Mitteilungen, Vol. 26, No. 1, January 1982, Nordestedt, Germany, there is described a broadcast control center comprising an automatic controller which controls the sequencing of robot operations through a bus. A control console is connected separately to the automatic controller.
This type of configuration displays a disadvantage in that it does not provide a system for manually controlling the control center in the case of an unforeseeable event, such as a failure of the automatic controller, or a news bulletin requiring that the programs be changed momentarily.
Thus it is an object of the present invention to overcome this problem.
This and other objects are achieved by an audiovisual program broadcast control center including at least one robot for controlling at least one device containing program information; a central control console for manually controlling the robot; a central programmable automatic controller for controlling the robot means; and a data transmission bus for connecting the control console and the automatic controller to the robot.
In this matter, from a single, central control console, it is possible to send commands to one or more robots, in a nearby or remote location, to coordinate the broadcasting sequence of several devices, both video and audio, and to adjust their transmission characteristics, without wasting time. Should it become unexpectedly necessary to redefine a broadcasting sequence quickly, the console replaces the automatic controller and takes over while the automatic controller is temporarily disabled and while it is being reprogrammed to centrally transmit to each robot micro-instructions detailing each basic step, such as turning on a magnetic tape reader, then reading the tape at the end of a specified period of time.
The data transmission bus is used to transmit data from the control console or the automatic controller to the robots, thereby limiting the amount of wiring required. It also enables the control console to store updated information on the data transferred between the automatic controller and the robots, allowing it to override the system if necessary and to manually control the robots in response to this information. In particular, this bus may be extremely long, providing for the synchronized operation of robots located in different areas. Similarly, the control console may be installed in a technical room located at some distance from an operator control panel for the automatic controller.
A slave logic for the robot may advantageously be provided to receive commands from the automatic controller or the control console and to actuate the robot in response to these commands. This logic may, for example, contain macro-instructions defining a sequence of the said basic micro-instructions, such that only those commands corresponding to the macro-instructions are transmitted, thereby reducing traffic on the bus.
In addition, the slave logic may include storage for recording a command sequence generated by the automatic controller. In this case, the automatic controller, which has transmitted these commands previously, needs only to validate them for execution at the appropriate time by sending a brief command.
To relieve the automatic controller from the task of sending such commands to validate execution of commands stored by the robots, a clock may be provided for the robot and configured to supply timing information to the said slave logic, for sequencing the execution of the said commands.
Because the slave logic manages the sequencing itself, the bus employed does not need to be a high-speed transmission bus or real-time bus.
The operation of the robots may be monitored by information transmitted data transmission transponder from the slave logic to the automatic controller or the control console, enabling the control console to display errors or to display the configuration of the devices managed by the robot.
To facilitate management of program broadcasts, the automatic controller may be equipped with memory to store a log listing completed broadcast sequences, which may be used to compile error statistics and for accounting purposes, for example to calculated royalties or identify faulty commercial announcements.
This bus may be connected to an expansion unit, or to a data or control server through a gateway connecting the control center to a remote location by a data transmission network.
Advantageously, to provide an operator/machine interface, an operator control panel is connected to the programmable automatic controller. This control panel may be situated in a remote location, away from the automatic controller. Conversely, this operator control panel may be integrated in the automatic controller to produce a more compact assembly.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.